


Redemption: A Pokémon Story

by Arexio



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Fantasy, Growing Up, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Training, Psychological Trauma, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 14:26:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17747558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arexio/pseuds/Arexio
Summary: A young man, working hard to make ends meet, finds it difficult to carry on no matter how many years pass. Why try so hard? It STILL hurts inside. The pain. The regret. If only he could go back.He needs an escape. The alcohol is only temporary. Both the drugs and medicine don’t work for him. Maybe, it’s time for a release of sorts…. . .Huh? This world is familiar. How nostalgic. Creatures held in tiny balls. Reminds him of his pleasant memories of childhood. A time BEFORE the suffering and aching and sorrow.Pokémon. A world full of adventure and discovery await him. An escape he so desperately needed.





	1. [Prologue] To Restart

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings:
> 
> 1) Tags/other labels may be added later on as plot is unraveled. (I already know that I will ostracize a good portion of readers due to a specific tag too. But honestly? Idc. This piece is more for me anyway.)
> 
> 2) This is FAR, FAR from canon. Very loosely based on anime/games, so I would leave now if you’re not down to hang only with an OC, not comfortable with an unfamiliar world, or if you don’t like that I’ve set logical limits in this Pokéverse.
> 
> 3) Story may get updated more frequently depending on popularity.
> 
> *All rights reserved by The Pokemon Company.
> 
> \---
> 
> [Posted first on ScribbleHub]

Darkness. Devoid of any light. 

Silence. A period of an unspecified amount of time. 

This is to be expected, right? What else would there be?

More darkness. 

But not really a "bad" kind of darkness. It was more of a sweet release, an emptying, from all of the pain and hurt and  _guilt_  that has constantly gnawed and torn his insides apart. 

The freedom he now feels from the ever present turbulence inside him was both grand and wonderful - it was  _luxurious._

_'Finally. It's all over.'_

The young man exhaled with all of his entire being and rested a rest that he has not had in a very, very long time.

. . .

. . .

. . .

"...-'re awake."

A voice full of presence echoed through the void.

 _'_ _What..? Who?'_

The man opened his eyes slowly, squinting through the unexpected, faint light, and searched for the unidentified person. 

There was still darkness all around him, but there was light coming from one place. To his right, where the source of the earlier voice was. Except, it was not a person. At least, not in the traditional sense of a human being. The young man was not sure exactly what he was looking at, actually. 

It looked like some sort of massive horselike beast with jagged white armor, except the impenetrable-looking armor was part of the creature itself. The horse-beast had a gray striated underbelly and a gray face as well. Its burning crimson eyes felt like they could blaze straight through your soul if you met its gaze for long enough. The pointy, upright ears were as sharp as daggers and the multiple protrusions on its neck and the rest of its body hardly looked welcoming at all. The two "tails" were sturdy and dangerous; one tail was in the position where a normal horse's should be, while the other, bigger and longer, tail came out from the back of its head. All of this was accentuated by the pure gold sheen from the horse-beast's hooves, crest, and strangely designed huge spoke encircling its back. 

As if its appearance alone was not enough, the horse-beast also emitted an ethereal, translucent glow that belied an unimaginable amount of power that was near-suffocating to be around. The aura energy of the horse-beast was so strong, so vigorous, that it practically challenged others to defy it, to see the fate of those that dared to blaspheme in its proximity. 

"I know I am quite handsome. You must be speechless." The horse-beast spoke directly into the man's mind. 

Flabbergasted, the young man indeed was speechless but not for the same reasons. A million questions that he had no answers for came all at once and resulted in the confused expression on his face along with a healthy amount of fear as his first impression of the being was extremely intimidating. A fleeting thought passed through his mind, wondering if this existence in front of him was a deity of some sort. 

"That is correct." 

_'The existence can also read minds!?'_

"That is also correct." The existence repeated. 

"I apologize. All of this must be quite a shock to you as it was for many of your predecessors. Please, let me explain first."

The man, still sitting on the ground and stunned about everything that was happening, wisely decided to just listen first instead and ask his endless questions after the beast deity, which could probably crush him faster than he could blink, was finished with its explanations.

"Let me first introduce myself. In my world, I am known as the Progenitor, the Spark of the Beginning, the Forger of All, the Thousand-Armed Creator, as well as my more colloquial identity given to me by the humans of my world, Arceus."

_'Arceus...why does that name sound so familiar? Hmm...wait, that Arceus!?'_

"Yes. That Arceus. The one those from your world call the God of all Pokémon, which, in a way, is true." 

The man only felt like he had more questions instead of answers after hearing this introduction. A headache was coming.

"Please be patient. I will do my best to get to all of your inquiries. Hopefully, I can cover most of them in the following explanation."

The young adult eventually received much information about what happened to him, where he was, and other miscellaneous knowledge from God Arceus. 

First, he learned that he has already died and left his old world of Earth, which considering everything that led up to the end, was not too surprising. He learned some interesting tidbits about the soul, death itself, the afterlife, Earth's Heaven/Hell Planes, reincarnation, etc. 

The man also learned that his soul was taken out of the normal cycle of his world and called to this realm, the Void Plane, by God Arceus, which overlooks its own world, Terazón. The reason being is that there is a complicated system and algorithm where the gods exchange souls around occasionally to keep their worlds "fresh". Apparently, the young man was lucky enough this time to be a part of God Arceus' quota, who actually sends out more souls than it receives, unlike the selfish gods who try to cheat the system and hoard as many souls as they can. God Arceus does not really mind this too much as it has more than enough on its plate dealing with the souls of the lesser-lifeforms - sorry, the Pokémon. Supposedly, the label Pokémon, short for Pocket Monsters, was given by the Terazón humans after they found methods to combat, tame, and eventually capture the very monsters that have been risking their own extinction since the dawn of time.

According to God Arceus, the reason why Earth humans know about the world of Pokémon is because the god of Earth is a very lazy one (he does not take the time aside to even listen to prayers, which is one of the bare minimums for a god) and instead of using a tiny portion of his godhood power to supply and generate unique, original ideas in the minds of men, he just plagiarizes from other worlds as it takes much less effort for him. Ignoring the fact that some of Earth's fictional characters may or may not potentially be based on actual real ones, the crux of the matter for the young man now is to figure out his next steps and what exactly God Arceus has in store for him.

"I am most pleased that you found that explanation satisfactory." 

"Now, let us discuss what happens next. I will soon release your soul into Terazón's reincarnation schema, which will subsequently reborn you as a newborn human, the lifeform most compatible for your soul in this world. That process is supposed to  _completely_ , not just partially,eliminate the memories of your previous world, but I have not really gotten around to correcting that particular oddity - it is not like there are many human souls I receive anyway - so you can think of that as a bonus of sorts." The Pokémon God continued. 

The man pondered this new information. _'I don't know if keeping my memories will be useful at all. I barely watched some of the anime and played only the Yellow and Gold versions of the Pokémon games when I was younger. And that was only because it was before everything happened.'_

"Do not fret. Your version of my world is vastly different from how it actually is. The underlying premise is there, but you will get to personally experience the discrepancies themselves." God Arceus noticed his concerns.

"In any case, based on your Karma, I am also supposed to grant you a corresponding blessing. Please give me a moment to check...oh my. I see, you have suffered from such a tragic event. For that, I am truly sorry. While I cannot do much about your past life, I can give you a great boost in your next one. Please, look forward to it." 

The young man felt...weird as a hot sensation seeped into his insides as if his body somehow became a thermos insulating its contents from the outside world. Other than that funny feeling, there was not really any other indication that he received the blessing of the beast deity.

The god and the man exchanged dialogue a few more times afterwards as the mortal felt much more comfortable than he did previously. The deity tried to assuage the man's anxiety of being thrown into such an absurd situation. The man received more answers but somehow still felt a bit unsure about it all. However, his internal struggles were quickly interrupted.

"Alright. I believe that is more than enough. As for the rest, you will soon discover for yourself. I must take my leave now. My demigod descendants are causing trouble once more, and I must ensure that it does not get too far out of hand. Farewell for now, and may your path forever be an auspicious one."

The man thanked the god for everything and said his goodbyes. He then laid back down and closed his eyes. Shortly afterwards, the hot feeling rose again in his chest as he felt darkness entomb his body and overtake him.

. . .

. . .

. . . 

 


	2. To Germinate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *All rights reserved by the Pokémon Company

Ken Mizuno.

That is his new name, his new identity. 

He was a bright and precocious toddler growing up, as expected of someone with a  second chance at life; yet he still always remembered to play the part of baby-genius perfectly as he could not afford to arouse any suspicions from the adults. His parents absolutely adored showing him off left and right until, eventually, the neighbors got  _very_  good at finding excuses where they happen to be busy all the time now. He only had a few night terrors (okay, maybe a little more than a few) where he wet the bed, but those were completely out of his control; he thought he had gotten over all of that and left it behind. All in all, he believed he was a pretty awesome kiddo. 

He spent a lot of his early years collecting information from the environment around him, thinking and contemplating, but never for too long because his immature and undeveloped brain started hurting if he pushed it too much. 

Like how it did now, for example, so he shook his head and immediately focused on what he should be doing, attempting to finish the task at hand when -

_Splash!_

He tried to step back quickly, but water still ended up seeping into his tiny shoes and, subsequently, his socks.

Now he has to walk around all day with wet marsh pads at the bottom of his feet. 

_'Ugh. This is the worst.'_

"Dad, most people have hobbies that aren't related to their jobs. What are we doing here? And  _whyyy_? Also, my socks are completely soaked through now." The young kid whined. He allowed himself to act his physical age every once in a while. 

His new dad laughed wholeheartedly at him, easily putting up with his complaints. "Hahaha, Ken, I told you to watch out when counting them. This is why I wanted to get you proper boots, but your mom said you'd grow out of them too quickly and that it'd be a waste. No biggie, just take off your shoes and socks for now."

The little boy walked away from the small, artificial pond housing their catches of the day, followed the advice of his father, and stretched his toes.

"Most people aren't me."

_'Uh oh. Here we go.'_

"I love my work as a fisherman, and I love fishing as a hobby; it's quite relaxing and enjoyable. Most people only love one or the other. I'm really fortunate that I've developed a passion for fishing under your grandfather, and I'm good and skilled enough to be able to make a living with it just like him. A lot of people would kill to be in my shoes." His dad rambled on and on about his favorite topic once again. He needed to put a stop to this before it was too late. 

"That doesn't make sense, Dad. People would not keep hobbies that they don't love. That's literally what hobbies are - something you do in your free time because you love it." Ken could not help but be a smart-ass as his father set himself up for that one.

Ken's father slowly shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You know what I'm getting at. You're a smart kid. What I mean is, you should have a job that you're happy with and fulfilling hobbies in life. Honestly, sometimes I think you're way too clever for a four-year-old."

_'If I had a PokéBill every time I heard that phrase...'_

"By the way, how many do we have now?" His dad inquired about his previously assigned task, breaking up his mental musings.

"Umm, we have 5 'Karps, 2 Goldeens, and a dozen or so baby Remoraids. Isn't this enough, Dad? How many are we planning to catch? We can't eat ALL this fish."

_'At least I can't. Nor do I want to.'_

"Definitely not enough. It doesn't matter if we catch too many. I'll give some to the neighbors and freeze the extras as snacks for Flapper here." His father tilted his head towards his amphibious sky blue Pokémon. It was a beefy creature that was almost bigger than him on just its four legs and definitely so when standing on its hindquarters. The amphibian had a wavy, purple pattern coupled with a remarkably large navy crest, indicative of its gender, on its back.

The Quagsire, keeping watch off to the side of the lake and closer to the tree line, croaked happily, sat up on his haunches, and wagged his slimy tail-flipper back and forth, when his trainer made eye contact with him.

"I'm craving some nice broiled Seaking or some spicy-fried Poliwag legs and gizzards. And we're absolutely NOT leaving until you catch a  _real_  fish. Those pipsqueak Remoraids don't count." Ken legitimately could not comprehend why his father demanded so much from a toddler. Maybe he should have toned down the whole child prodigy thing. 

He mentally sighed and placed himself a bit of a distance away from his father after grabbing the miniature scale fishing rod and preparing the lure and bait.

_'Why do they even make this in this size? It's not like children have the physical strength to reel any actual fish in. I blame consumerism.'_

Ken physically sighed this time as he cast his line, demonstrating exceptional technique that his dad practically drilled into him at this point. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his father beaming at him as he performed the motion. 

The boy allowed his mind to wander as he wondered if there was any other activity that was more boring than what he was currently doing now. He silently concluded no. 

Burning brightly high above, the sun slid across the sky to its midafternoon height, refracting rays into the waters, shimmering and shining and sparkling like scattered gem fragments across the surface of the lake. A cooling breeze nudged some of the nearby trees and flora, the swaying movements having a certain rhythm to them, radiating the kind of calm and tranquility that is unique to nature. 

A certain amount of time passed, during which Ken's father caught a few more "real fish", he himself caught some more "fake fish", and they both shared and chewed on some salty jerky, before he internally admitted that this halcyon atmosphere is slowly growing on him.

It was at this period of introspection that there was an abrupt tug, a force greater than the ones before, on his line, startling him to the point where he very nearly dropped his rod into the pool of water by accident. Luckily, the child saved himself from that embarrassment and tried to alternate between yanking and reeling in his catch, but it was evidently not very successful. 

"Dad!"

His father instantly rushed over and commandeered the fishing device. "Give it here, son."

Ken looked on anxiously as the small fishing rod bent way too much for comfort and as his dad wrestled with the fish again and again, slowly but surely, bringing the load closer bit by bit, all the while moderating the tension in the line at just the right moments; it was more of an artform at this level of skill.

Finally, the tug-of-war battle between man and sea creature ended with one last hard and fast pull, as a  _monstrosity_  of a Magikarp made its appearance known, landed with a heavy thud on the shoreline, and floundered about wildly and crazily. 

"Oh shit! This bastard's gotta be at least a fifty-pounder, double the size of your average 'Karp. He's a massive son-uva-bitch!" Exclaiming loudly and losing himself in the moment, it was at times like these when Ken's dad openly displayed his natural proficiency in his native tongue of the language of sailors.

Curious, the boy stepped closer to get a better look at the freakishly large fish. Thick orange-red scales that seemed quite hardy encased the monster. It had mostly white fins, except for the yellow tough-looking ventral and dorsal ones, and two very long barbels squirming about like fat earthworms coming from its snout, trying to get a better sense of its foreign environment. 

He was stopped with a hand gesture before he could advance too far. "Hold up, Ken. A 'Karp that's lived to be this old has enough Energy capacity to pull off a real Tackle and Flail, so it's much more dangerous than your normies. Hell, it probably would've ate enough and even grown to a 'Dos if this was out in the ocean."

Shivering with a chill at that frightening revelation, the son kept his eyes lasered in onto the Magikarp, almost able to imagine it as its sea dragon counterpart, while his father approached it carefully from behind and then quickly punted it further inland with a powerful kick maneuver. Then he whistled shrilly, calling his Quagsire over. The quadruped sprinted faster than a young Ponyta on a racetrack. 

"Flapper, give it a good ol' Mud Shot and follow it right up with a Body Slam!" His dad immediately ordered.

The trained Pokémon gulped down mouthfuls of dirt around him before shooting globs of mud projectiles at a dizzying speed towards his target. Not even waiting for the hits to land, the Quagsire gave off a faint white glow as he concentrated his Energy into the already strong muscles and tough skin and lunged straight onto the wild Magikarp. The monster fish took hit after hit after hit. However, right after the last attack, it managed to somehow smack Flapper hard across the face, knocking the Quagsire aside, with a desperate Flail, its tail and lower body still releasing a trace amount of Energy even now.

Mumbling, the adult trainer was personally shocked that the fish Pokémon was still hanging on by this much. "Feisty little fucker, huh?" He quickly recollected his composure and barked out a battle-ending order, "Burn 'em up, Flapper. Scald!"

The humongous Magikarp never stood a chance, even with its partial resistance. The Quagsire tensed his bulky muscles, pulled from his reserves, and completely blasted the fish to kingdom come with an  _immense_ , steaming stream of boiling water that was surrounded by a hint of shiny blue Energy. Borderline dying and twitching in its last moments, the half-burned Magikarp was transferred over to the shallow pool of water where the rest of its peers were. It slowly sank to the bottom of the temporary tank as the other fish in the enclosed space stilled their movements, either realizing that they will soon share the same fate or just becoming afraid due to the large size of their new compatriot.

"Damn Ken, you caught a monster of a fish. That big guy has both me and Flapper here working up a sweat."

"Haha, Dad, you and Flapper did all the work. I just stood over here, trying to not get Tackled - I barely participated at all." The toddler pushed for humility.

"It still counts. It still counts. It was your lucky touch that helped rope in the big guy. Wouldn't have managed to nab him without you, son. Be proud of yourself, I know I am."

Ken could not stop the grin that slowly creeped onto his cute face, a face that was trying hard to avoid eye contact. His warm cheeks tinged with a slight shade of embarrassment as he fumbled with his tiny hands, not knowing exactly where to place them. 

His father also couldn't help but pick up the adorable little boy as he simultaneously roughly ruffled his red hair and loudly laughed into the sky, spinning his son around and around, disorienting the both of them.

Flapper got caught up in the excitement as well and ran circles around them, singing cheerful croaks for all to hear.

After a few more sweet moments of simple joy, Ken's dad put him back down on the ground. 

"Well, I think that's a pretty good note to end our day on. Go grab the cooler for me to put these in, will ya? And then let's go home and get this big 'Karp grilled and ready for dinner. I know your mom will appreciate it after her long weekend shift at the Center today. She usually comes home exhausted and pooped after those."

"Yeah. That sounds like a good plan to me." Ken nodded.

As he walked to grab their supplies, he reflected on the events of the day, and he found himself really cherishing this father and son bonding time as well as having a thought he never believed he would've had before today.

_'Fishing is not too bad after all.'_


	3. To Forbear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *All rights reserved by the Pokemon Company

_Puh. Puh. Puh._

Muffled sounds in the distance. 

Footsteps outside. 

His body reflexively tensed and his ears perked up. While listening carefully, he ran his right hand against the small fanny pack on his left side, unzipping it halfway.

A familiar jing-jangling of keys and the click-clack sound of a door unlocking allowed him to release a breath he did not know he was holding. 

The front door opened for a bit and then quickly shut with a slam afterwards. 

"I'm home!" 

"Welcome home, Mom!" Ken shouted right back. 

His mother came into the wide open living room, threw down her tan dufflebag onto the three-seater couch and rushed over to his corner, where he was currently sitting and typing away on the family desktop computer.

"How was school?" She asked casually while squeezing the living daylights out of him with a hug from his right side.

"It was good. We covered some Kantonian history, but most of the lesson was on Pokémon Biology, namely native species, habitats, and ecology."

"Any homework?" She got to her main point.

"Just now finished it up. They want us to choose a common regional Pokémon species and write a one-page essay on it. Here's the list they gave us." Ken handed her the sole sheet of paper that was on the mostly empty desk. 

His mother barely skimmed it over, turned her head to the computer screen, and searched with her eyes.

"You chose Magikarp,  _not_  Gyarados? Am I reading this wrong?"

"Yup, Magikarp. I already know a ton of other kids are going to pick its evolved form, but I know nobody will choose the most 'boring' Pokémon."

"So why did you pick Magikarp? They  _are_  very common." Ken's mother politely rephrased.

He met her gaze. "That's part of the reason why. Magikarp are an essential part of Kantonian Pokémon ecology; almost every single water Pokémon and many land Pokémon eat them, and they also provide tons of money in the form of seafood trade for coastal cities. Also, since the lesson was on Pokémon ecology, I'm almost positive I'm getting bonus points for tying all of this in."

He quickly added in a low voice, "And I might've been influenced by that monster 'Karp Dad and I caught that one time..."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "The one from the trip three years ago? The one where you both went who knows how many miles off-route from Pallet City? The one where my calls could not connect because you were so far from comm range?" 

"Mooom. We were fine. Dad prepared for everything, plus he brought Flapper AND Wally - Wally is like super strong; he can take down Gyarados." Ken still could not begin to fathom the strength of his father's Starter Pokémon.

She shot right back. "A Tentacruel can only do so much on land. What if you ran into a Luxray pride? Or a Nido' herd?"

It took not a small amount of effort to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Really, Mom? I haven't finished my education, but even I know those Pokémon are closer to Central Kanto. And Foreigns would've been even more uncommon to see. They actually talked about that today in class about how 'they constantly struggle to adapt to the region and find a stable place in the food web'."

Exasperated, his mother sighed and walked over slowly to sit on the sofa. "There's just no arguing with you, is there?"

Then, she shifted into a more comfortable position. "Well, I'm glad you're doing well and learning lots at Star Private Academy. I know I've told you countless times already, but I'm so proud of you for receiving a full scholarship to go to such a prestigious school." 

"At your age, we were still learning our letters and arithmetic and  _maybe_  categorizing Pokémon by type, let alone writing full essays about them." His mom reminisced wistfully, more to herself than anybody present. 

As she continued to recount her school days, he finished triple-checking his write-up for typos and printed off the paper, attaching the reference list. He interrupted his mother's self-reflections by walking over and handing her his completed assignment to read over.

Halfway through reading - he could tell by following her amber eyes - she stopped and looked up at him. "Nothing happened today, right?" Her brows knitted in slight worry.

He knew what she was talking about. "No. Nothing happened on my walk straight back from school as I didn't stop anywhere along the way, I didn't burn the house down trying to cook because you left plenty of snacks in the fridge, I didn't open the door to any strangers because there were none, and I didn't leave the premises because I need an adult and your permission first." 

"You know a mother can't help but worry when her child is at home alone. Anything could happen. Are you sure you don't want a babysitter? We have more than enough money for one." She ignored his blatant sarcasm.

"No, I'm more than fine, Mom. You know how I can easily take care of myself. I told you, you should just put that money towards my Trainer fund instead and save it for when I'm older. And if the absolute  _impossible_  happens, then you also know that I always have THIS just in case." 

Ken unzipped the rest of his fanny pack, moved his hand into a secret compartment, and took out the Pokéball sheltering one of his father's Wingulls inside, holding it up high to demonstrate his point. 

"And nobody knows you have that, right Ken?" Ken's mom whispered subconsciously.

"Yes. I constantly make sure nobody knows, and that they don't have any way of finding out either. I'm taking the test for my Pokémon Holder provisional license next year when I finally turn 8, so it won't be a big deal anymore."

Technically speaking, it was illegal for children to even possess physical Pokéballs, let alone give orders to the monsters, most of whom are bigger than they are, that dwell within. One too many accidents and tragedies from kids playing with their parents' belts led to strict laws about better supervision and Pokéball possession. 

To be honest, it was annoying. He was most definitely not your average child. Next year would be worth looking forward to. 

The Holder license would be a big benefit to him, even though it is not an official Trainer license, which allow the full six. The "provisional" part would be removed after he demonstrated sufficient competency over a period of close observation AKA not get hurt. The Holder license was originally intended for children of breeding and ranching families, but it also applied to Pokémon nurse junior assistants, trading assistants, and a myriad of other niche helper positions.However, most importantly for Ken, it legally allowed him to carry one extremely well-trained Pokémon - with potential to hold more - registered to his parents, on his person, and in extenuating circumstances, command it in actual battle if the need arises.

Ken stopped fiddling the Pokéball around in the palm of his hand, put it away, and finally looked up to find his mother silently staring at him, love and affection in her gaze. 

"You're growing up so fast, Ken...Are you sure you still want to leave Pallet City to be a Trainer? You can go to the University and get a steady and very high paying job with your smarts. It's also much safer." 

"I'm sure, Mom. Oak University is a great place for higher education, and I don't doubt that I would get an excellent job with an advanced degree from there." 

The college dedicated to its namesake and renowned Pokémon Professor was indeed fantastic. When the Oak family decided to transform extra land around the lab facilities into a full-fledged campus, the massive half-research and half-education complex pushed Pallet from its town status back in the day to official city due to the unprecedented growth as a result. After that, it only took a short five years to get a gym officiated by the League and added to the Kanto Circuit. The rest was history.

The boy interjected, "BUT, you and Dad and I and practically everyone else knows that strength is what's most important in this world. I  _NEED_  to be a Trainer."

He felt like he did not need to elaborate any more than that. In a world where a horde of savage beasts or a few exceptionally strong ones decimated villages back in the day, Trainers were an absolute necessity to fight them off and to just plain live. Some older parts of Kanto still call them Tamer-Warriors. And back then, they did NOT have Pokéballs or their built-in training programs to help condition Pokémon. All  _they_ had was grit and sheer willpower born out of the need for survival to force these monsters to submit to their new masters, train them to fight to grow stronger, and hope the next wave of wild monsters would not be their last. 

Nowadays, it is not nearly as bleak, but there are more than plenty of reported horde Attacks of all sizes each year in every part of the region, commonplace yet dangerous enough that you cannot just write them off as nothing; these are the natural disasters of this world. 

There is a reason why Rangers regularly patrol routes, monitor known habitats, and why they have an in-house field biologist at every station. There is a reason why Gyms, at any given time, dedicate 2 out of their 4 executives, who directly report to the Leader, and their assigned Members to assist the city militia in defense. There is a reason why every Trainer is obligated to fulfill their duty in an emergency Pokémon Attack, why harsh and debilitating penalties exist for neglecting to do so, and why the League propagandizes relentlessly for them to challenge Gyms, earn their badges, complete the Circuit, and participate in the Conferences, becoming stronger than their former selves while doing so. 

His mother's silence was her concession. She still let out a soft sigh though. Some concern was partly evident on her face, yet it became mostly overshadowed by resigned acceptance.

He answered her non-response with more silence, searching desperately to find a way to change topics to alleviate the awkward atmosphere that lingered around.

Ken eventually was able to do so, "Oh I forgot to mention this before, but can I go to watch an in-person Pokémon battle in two days around this time?"

Ken's mom raised a brow, signaling him to continue. 

He quickly added, "It's between these superstar newbie Trainers that have apparenly been rivals since forever ago. They just graduated yesterday from Pallet Central, got their Starters officially registered, and are now doing some preliminary training before their battle. Everyone and their mom knows them, so half of the city is going to be there."

"And how will you get there? The Center won't be letting me off early tomorrow and your father and his crew are not due back from his expedition out at sea for at least a couple more days." The Pokémon nurse rebutted.

"Thomas' dad. Mr. Brown can take me and watch over us. And you already have his number too." Ken really wanted to go.

"Oh, Albert? That should be fine then. I'll just have him check in with me later." She paused, most likely to make a mental note to herself. "Now, tell me about these two amazing rookie Trainers that apparently I was supposed to know about."

"You know Chloe. She babysat me some when I was younger. Brown hair, green eyes." He replied. 

"Ohhh, I remember her. She's a very lovely and pretty girl." His mother commented. "Wow, she's already 16? I remember like it was just yesterday when she was always telling me how ridiculously cute and well-behaved you were when she babysat for her Trainer fund money. Time flies by so quickly."

Coughing in slight embarrassment, the kid tried his best to seamlessly continue on. "And there's Mason. Literally everyone knows the Sakai family. He's their prodigy." 

"Oh yes, Mason Sakai. I've always heard he's been quite the talented young master of such a family. I'm assuming he's taking over the family business after his Trainer journey is over." 

He affirmed. "Yeah. If he doesn't change his mind later on." 

"Hmm, that's very old-fashioned of them. It makes sense though. Considering the lineage of their family, they must highly value tradition and personal strength." She pondered out loud. 

Then his mom turned to him. "Well, now you have me wanting to go see this battle. Record it for me, Ken. It sounds very exciting. I sure hope Chloe wins though - she was a very sweet girl." 

"Will do, Mom." He smiled with some eagerness for the showdown to come.

"Now, come help me with preparing dinner." 

She rose from her seat as he nodded, and together they headed towards the kitchen.

. . .

. . .

. . .

He and Thomas (and his dad) arrived there early in order to get good seats for the battle, which was taking place at the largest outdoor battlefield at Pallet Central.

Even then, it looked like the white bleachers might fill up by the time the main contestants arrive. 

It was quite unorthodox and mind-boggling to actually think about if you got right down to it. Here are a ton of people with enough free time on their hands to watch 3-day-old Trainers battle with beginner level Pokémon. Yet, he could not even criticize them because he was in the same boat, and he was feeling pretty pumped too, not even fully understanding why he was himself.

They looked around for their friend group from school, found them with front row seats, and swiftly scurried on over. 

Exchanging greetings and whatnot, they quickly tore into the meat of the conversation that everyone really cared about. 

What Pokémon were Chloe and Mason going to use? 

No one knew the specifics.

People said that Chloe selected a Tier 1 Starter Pokémon from Oak University, which was unsurprising, as the institution traditionally gave Tier 1s out only to the students who both placed at the very top of their class and performed exceptionally well on the Trainer licensing examination. It made sense. Nobody wanted to give a baby fire dragon to an incompetent Trainer; that was just a ticking timebomb of a disaster. 

Mason forewent the University's sponsored Pokémon and received extra supplies instead. Apparently, he decided to register his Starter as a newly hatched Pokémon from his aunt who is an acclaimed and well-known breeder from the suburbs of Saffron. 

That part was a bit controversial; your registered Starter needed to be somewhat new and participate in every official Gym challenge as the Pokémon is a physical representation of your growth as a Trainer, in the words of the League. Ken overheard some of the adults whispering about the pedigreed privilege, how money and connections can get you anything nowadays, and how the younger generation doesn't need to work as hard. He tuned all that out and focused back on his peers. 

Most of the girls were chatting about how Chloe is the most beautiful and prettiest ever, how super smart she is, and how she will definitely beat Mason hands-down. And most of the boys were not having it. Thomas, especially, got heated about Mason as he bragged about how he met him  _once_  and allegedly learned everything he knew about battling from his hero, which obviously means he's the better Trainer and is for sure going to win. 

Ken softly snickered with amusement as he listened on and waited patiently for the show to start.

The waning sun slowly sank towards the horizon, and the warm air nipped him once in a while, reminding him how he was glad he chose to wear shorts today. 

Tightly packed with dirt, the actual battlefield looked to have its perimeters and zones delineated with freshly painted lines. The surrounding grass was freshly trimmed, with the nearby hedges and flowers neatly groomed.

The volume of the chatterings of the crowd increased over time as more and more people shuffled on into the stands, the overlapping voices becoming a shifting song of sorts. 

All of this was interrupted when a random and boisterous cheer from a group of people in the corner broke through. Shortly after, the group applauded which spread through the rest of the audience like a rambunctious storm as everyone began to realize what was going on. 

The main actors finally appeared. 

 


End file.
